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Ballytrim - Ballytrim Day 7 19/20th May 2014




169 miles sailed between noon 19th and noon 20th May.

Its not so easy to describe the highs and lows of sailing, as they ( I hope you'll forgive the pun ) drift in and out with changing circumstances way beyond our control. Yesterday for example, we had a plan of where to aim for and the wind was supposed to change in our favour. We stuck to the plan and sailed our 'pants off' ( more on that point - of anatomy later) but woke this morning to a totally changed picture. Here is our story for the last 24 hours.......

Our 'boat time' is between 1200 and 1400 daily, unless I decide to remove an hour because we are sailing East and are gradually 'losing time' against UTC (threats GMT in the UK). On 18th we 'lost an hour to -2 UTC and on 22nd we will lose another hour to -1 UTC: ( blooming complicated, but we are passing through time zones and have to reflect that in our daily routine for ourselves and.the boat).... So yesterday we actually had 2 hours of boat time,with nobody particularly on watch. It gives us time for cleaning and maintenance, personal hygiene and discussion of what to do two days ahead of our selves, given our understanding of the weather and so on.

We had a really positive 'crew briefing' all contributing and then agreeing a plan of action and set to it....very positive stuff. Our plan was to head North and when the winds moved into the South we would alter course toward our destination, The Azores, and keep our good progress going.

We poled out the jib, had a reefed mainsail and goose winged our way NE. ( Basically we has a sail out either side of the mast and 'ran' down win. ) It should be a joy surfing, but the swell wasn't matching the wind direction so we had to fight every bit of the way. We were content and happy to be challenged. It meant a focus and purpose. There were whoops of joy when ever the record set was broken again. ( I think Laurie, our youngest - to be eaten soon, managed 10.1 knots in the right direction. )

We sailed like this through the night, which is actually very tiring. Before the moon rises, it is pitch black and Im really not sure how best to describe the sensation of steering a 20+ ton yacht directly down wind and surfing in pitch black..... The best I can think of is that ride in Disney World were you get into a cart at the top of a 'mountain' and set off in pitch black hurtling down the tracks wondering when the next turn will come about.... "Scary but fun. An adventure, but glad when it finishes" - It was pretty much all of these things.
At dawn the wind began to die but we fought on until there was no option but to drop the sails and motor.

Now, for those following progress on the "yellow brick tracker", you'll need to understand that the yachts positions takes no account of telling you who has an engine on and who is sailing!!! So you really don't know who is actually winning until the end of the race and the declaration by the skipper on how many engine hours they have run throughout the rally/race.
Our closest opponents Sparta will clearly have turned their engine on - probably 3 or 4 hours earlier today than we did, which will account for them suddenly being in front. But the organising committee will penalise them for that. So. The person in front is not necessarily the winner, as we found out after the last race when we finished 17 hours in front of those awarded first place....
Sailing is a complicated sport and not so easy to explain, but it is fun in the main.

Our interesting stories continue....
Having decide that we will be out at sea for several more days and potentially 8 more we have taken stock of our provisions and water. ( decided who will be eaten first and so on...)
There is also the consideration - have you enough clean clothes to last the extra days and is there enough water to spare to wash clothes and ourselves? All good questions we ask ourselves, individually, and then as a group decide what's to be done....interesting!!!!

One of our crew has purchased a Marino wool top, which apparently will never smell no matter how long its worn! We have to say, Tone, that might be true of the wool but not of the person wearing it. So, stop being in denial, wash please!!

Another interesting find - this time about washing and clothes, was that one crew member believes if you don't wear clothes then you don't have to wash them!!!! Which is strictly correct........ However, when its your underpants that don't get worn the rest of the crew have to put up with the unsightly hairy bottom moving from cabin to the heads and back. Im sure you would agree this has to stop. There are standards to be set and " this practice " has to stop, or name and shame will have to occur.

Finally. Nobody has shaved or washed for 6/7 days now. Yes, baby wipe washes and so on, but no showers, no washed hair and no shaving........ Humm. So there is truth that at least one crew member probably dyes his hair (A good friend has a handle on who this might be.... The team photos will prove the point Derek.) when the stubble doesn't match the colour of the hair. I think we can be sure there's a little but of 'Grecian' 2000 going on!!!??

Our thoughts are will everybody, on and off the water.
Geoff

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